Page 21 of Ascension of the Pack

A fellow staggered towards us; his head was shaved and his flaming red beardhadto have been dyed. ‘Manners! You’ve still acquired none I see.’ He belched,obviously not worried about his own manners. ‘What’s occurring? Who’s the pretty whore?’

I can bite him for you if you like,Esme offered hopefully.

Better not,I said with faux reluctance.We might need more tunnels in the future.

‘The pretty “whore” is my Queen and mate,’ Greg snarled. ‘So keep a civil tongue in your mouth or I’ll happily rip it out for you.’ He said the nicest things.

‘The Queen?’ The dwarves murmured amongst themselves before falling silent. They were looking at me with such expectation that I had to resist the urge to turn around and see if someone was behind me. What did they think I was going to do – start proclaiming laws and chopping off heads? Though granted, Esme would have been totally up for that.

The air stilled and the bus was suddenly filled with overwhelming tension. Glares were being levelled at Greg and dwarven hands had moved to rest lightly on the knives and axes that they carried around their waists.

Uh-oh. I’d thought they’d be happy to see me, but Greg’s threat had really changed the atmosphere. A moment earlier they’d seemed so jocular but now they were clearly ready to fight. The bus’s close quarters meantthat they couldn’t all rush us at once, but even so there were alotof dwarves to fight if this went south.

All eyes were on Osian to see how he would respond to Greg’s threat. I was wondering that myself. Esme and I were tense as we prepared to shift if we needed to.

Terrance, be ready,I warned my crown.

Always, my Queen.

Osian met Greg’s eyes and held them for a long beat, his expression grim, then suddenly he grinned and gave a chuckle that reverberated around the bus. ‘Ah, fuck me sideways if I haven’t missed you, you brethren stick up the ass!’

The bus erupted into cheers and hands eased away from their weapons. ‘Stick up the ass!’ they all chanted.

This was notLord of the Rings. The dwarves were totally plastered. And rude. And violent. How dare they criticise Greg’s manners? He was always a gentleman – apart from that one little threat to rip out their tongues. But kings chopped off heads all the time, so clearly my fiancé was destined to be royalty.

‘What’s with all the drinking?’ I asked Osian curiously. ‘Is it a party or…?’

‘We’re celebrating tunnelling under Dinas Bran! We did a cracking job!’ one of the younger-looking ones hollered.

‘And we’re remembering those who didn’t survive last time we tunnelled there,’ an older dwarf added more sombrely. Then he hit the younger one on the top of his head.

Nobody spoke for what seemed like a long time until Osian rumbled, ‘Ay, that we are, fellas.’

Once again, I felt like I was missing something. ‘Why is Dinas Bran so important?’ I asked, to break the lingering silence before it reverted to the threatening silence we’d had before.

Osian looked at me. ‘It was our home first,’ he complained gruffly. ‘Then the she-dragon fancied it and took it for her own.’

‘I’m so sorry. When was that?’

He rubbed a hand across his shiny head. ‘Oh, in the 1500s or there about.’

‘Five hundred years ago?’ I asked incredulously.

‘There or thereabouts. She gave my ancestors the heave-ho and scarcely let them escape with their lives. We hoped she’d grow bored with Dinas Bran so we could return to our ancestral homelands, but when she showed no signs of that we sent our men to retrieve some of our more choice items. That expedition didn’t end well.’

‘And you think this one will?’

He grinned. ‘Ay, we know it will.’

‘And how’s that?’

Osian winked and touched the side of his nose. ‘Seers.’

My stomach lurched. ‘Not a prophecy!’

His smile widened. ‘Not a fan of them, are you?’

‘I’ve had enough prophecy to last a lifetime.’ I paused. ‘Is the prophecy about me?’

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